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Four-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant knows a thing or two about putting the ball in the basket. He is also not afraid to call out his own mistakes and his inefficiency in Game 1 was no exception.
In an article recently published by SF Gate, Durant spoke openly about his poor shot selection on the evening which led to a sub-par overall shooting performance. The nine-time All-Star shot only 36 percent overall on 8-of-22 shooting while only connecting on one out of his seven attempts from deep.
Article Continues Below“I didn’t take smart shots,” said Durant. “I took risky looks. I took some shots that I know I can hit, but I’d rather get better shots than that.”
This is a far cry from the Durant that we've grown accustomed to seeing as he has consistently averaged above 50 percent shooting in the regular season over the past six years.
Looking at the box score though, it would be difficult to criticize Durant's Game 1 performance after posting 26 points, nine rebounds, six assists, a steal, and three blocks. Two-time Most Valuable Player winner Stephen Curry summed up the conundrum quite nicely by stating that Durant, as well as the entire Warriors team, have fallen victim to the exceptionally high standards that are expected of them.
“We’re all victims of our expectations that we’ve set,” said Curry. “I mean, the fact that they’re saying K.D. had a bad game is kind of funny, just with what you expect from him every single night.”
Despite a poor shooting night for Durant, he still managed to fill up the stat sheet, and more importantly, contribute to the Warriors successfully taking Game 1 of the series. We are all familiar with this man's resiliency and it's just scary to imagine what kind of stat line he will be delivering on a good night.
